Independent tests sought in Dr case
Not convinced by a police claim that skeletal remains found on a police doctor's ranch in Phetchaburi do not include those of a missing married couple reportedly involved in a dispute with the man, relatives of the couple yesterday asked well-known foren
The director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) said yesterday that relatives of Samart Numjui and Orasa Kerdsab had asked her to verify the results of a police autopsy performed on three sets of remains.
Police said the remains did not include those of the couple, who have been missing for three years.
Pornthip said the relatives’ request was understandable, because the autopsy was performed by the police’s Institute of Forensic Medicine (IFM) in a case involving a police doctor, Pol Colonel Dr Suphat Laohawatthana.
Suphat has been charged with several offences relating to firearms and hiding corpses after the discoveries made at his home.
Pol Lt-General Jongjate Owjanephong, the director of the Police General Hospital, which supervises the IFM, insisted that the police autopsy found no DNA links between the remains and relatives of the missing couple.
He said the relatives were welcome to seek a new autopsy independent of the police.
However, police would not submit the results of their autopsy to the CIFS, he said. “The IFM is not obliged to submit its work to anyone other than to police investigators in charge of the case.”
Pornthip said the CIFS was the main agency responsible for identifying abandoned or unclaimed bodies.
She urged an end to inter-agency conflicts, saying the Justice Ministry’s policy of assigning the CIFS to identify unclaimed bodies should be implemented in a serious manner, “otherwise the CIFS should be abolished.”
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